Hold On Tight Here I Go!
Marisabel's Blog
1. Meaningful learning goals
I am sure as educators we all want the best for all of our students in our classroom. Meaningful learning goals are always what we are trying to achieve for each of them. We want all our students to be successful but it is very difficult when expectations are so high for both the student and the teacher. As teachers we are expected to not leave any child behind but at the same time we are being asked to move on as we teach because we are not teaching to mastery or trying to get to every standard we are expected to teach. "It will spiral around", are the words that are supposed to reassure me, while my low students continue to be left behind. And even though I want to stop and check for understanding and make small groups to work with those students I constantly have another teaching requirement lingering over my head that I have to make sure I am covering. I don't have enough time in the school day to teach what they want me to teach and make sure that all my students are getting the help or support that they may desperately need. In my classroom 50% of my student are English learners. As Darling-Hammond notes: Clearly, there is a need not only for leaner, more disciplined standards and more thoughtful curriculum guidance, but also for more useful assessments. 2. Intelligent, reciprocal accountability systems These policies are a must for the teacher as well as for the school in general. I agree that an accountability system is necessary and should be based on multiple measures of student learning not just from the administration of tests. All students can't be expected to pass the tests that are required because all students are not the same. They don't all learn the same and when they are learning two languages at the same time it takes them more time to catch up to the single language learning counterpart. It feels like we are comparing apples to oranges. 3. Equitable and adequate resources The idea that all schools would receive equitable funding and resources is to farfetched to even think about. As a student I remember how different schools were. I constantly switched form public to private schools and could see huge discrepancies in what was available to us. It was also evident on which teachers loved their jobs regardless of how much money they were making. I am grateful for having the induction program that provides me a mentor teacher who guides me through the ups and downs of the teaching profession. My students benefit from this program just as much as me if not more. It is important to be able to reflect on your teaching and be able to adjust your teaching as needed. If all schools had equitable funding to help keep highly skilled teachers we could provide all students the quality education they are all entitled to receive. 4. Strong professional standards and supports All of us teachers need support and continuing professional development. We have seen changes in just the past 5 years on sources of information. A text book is no longer our primary source of information and encyclopedias are outdated and rarely used. us teachers must be able to keep up with new technology and be prepared to teach the type of student that will be in our classroom of the 21st century. 5. Schools organized for student and teacher learning Being able to use assessments that guide and inform teaching and learning through an ongoing inquiry process at the classroom and school levels, supported by regular time for teachers to plan and learn together would benefit both the teachers and the students. All my students would benefit from personalized support integrating new technologies. Just as we do for our students we should give our schools SMART goals. Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely goals that benefit both our students and teachers.
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Sukanlaya Sawang, Peter O'Connor & Muhammad Ali from the Queensland University of Technology Business School in Australia are leading the way in research trying to answer the question: Does technology enhance students' engagement?
They coined the word IEngage In their research article titled, Using Technology to Enhance Students' Engagement in a Large Classroom. There study provides evidence of significant effect of positive attitude and social pressure on the intent to use KEYPads. The use of the KeyPads is directly associated with the level of student engagement. They even find evidence for the relationship between extroverts and introverts and level of engagement. One main thing I learned as I read these past few weeks was that technology doesn't make a difference, unless it is well used. Debra Rein explains: A teacher's progress along the continuum, called the Evolution of Teacher Thought and Practice has a very significant impact on how the technology is used, and thus on what kind of a difference it makes. SAMR is model designed to help educators infuse technology into teaching and learning. The goal is to transform learning experience resulting in higher levels of achievement for students. I myself have been adding technology into the classroom slowly and in many different ways. I use the technology piece available to us in our Bridges math program to show the students how to play the math games. It is an interactive piece and the students really like to participate. I also have the students watch short math lessons on Khan Academy and then we debrief the information as a class. The students always seem excited when I mention the use of the chrome books and have a good handle on the technology skills required to use it. TPACK adds a different component into the mix. The "P" in TPACK stands for pedagogy. Mishra & Koehler express that us teachers live in its intersection. Learning and teaching should be integrated, interdisciplinary and have creative play. Multilevel participation so the possibilities and the potential are endless. I wanted to quote Krista Moroder because what she writes on edtech coaching, hit a chord with me. She says, "I think it is more effective to focus on 'y'-on those 'redefined tasks'- and or good teaching practices. There are already a lot of great teachers who are using the 4 C's ( creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking) without digital tools. They're already doing 'y', even if they don't have 'x' yet. The approach that I think is more effective with teachers is: 'you're trying to do Y- and here's how X can make you more efficient or effective ( through increased access, better organization, more automation, etc. The focus for professional development starts with good teaching practices rather than starting with the tool."
I strongly agree that we need to be effective teachers on our own before we can start adding new tools. It is important for us to see the tool as a way to be more effective and efficient at teaching our students. |
Marisabel OlguinNVLA 4th Grade Dual Immersion Teacher at Napa Valley Language Academy Archives
June 2018
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